Car-door.



A. H. GLANDON.

GAR DOOR.

APPLIOAIION FILED AUG. 3, 1909. I 967,757, Patented Aug. 16, 1910. s enma-sum 1.

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A. H. GLAN DON.

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Patented Aug. 16,1910.

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967,757, Patented Aug. 16, 1910.

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ALEXFNDER H. GLANDON, OF WABEDO, MINNESOTA.

CAR-DOOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 16, 1910.

Application filed August 3, 1909. Serial No. 510,983.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER H. GLAN- non, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Wabedo, in the county of Cass and State ofMinnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCar-Doors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to novel improvements in doors for cars, or thelike, and the invention resides particularly in certain novel featuresof construction, the form and advantages of which will be pointed outmore clearly hereinafter.

For a full understanding of the present invention reference is to be hadto the following detail description and to the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 is a front elevation showing a side of a car and towhich the door is applied,the latter embodying the invention and beingshown in closed condition; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view takenabout on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. i is a section taken on the line 44: of Fig. 2 andlooking upwardly, those parts of the mechanism carried by the top of thecar being shown in plan view; Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view onthe line 5-5 of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a detail section showing the auxiliarydoor in open position; Fig. 7 is a section taken on the line 77 of Fig.1; Fig. 8 is a detail view of one of the stops attached to the top ofthe car for preventing endwise movement of the door when opened orupraised; Fig. 9 is a detail view partly broken away and showing infront elevation the catches which cooperate with the operating andlocking rods; Fig. 10 is a detail section on the line 101O of Fig. 9;Fig. 11 is a detail section on the line l111 of Fig. 9, and Fig. 12 is asection on the line 12-12 of said Fig. 9.

Referring to the drawings and specifically describing the invention 1denotes the car which may be of any ordinary type of construction, 2indicating the door which is mounted at one side of the car, or bothsides, as desired. The main door 2 comprises a fo-ldable structure beingmade with a hinged or pivoted section 2. At the lower portion thereof,and on the section 2 is provided an auxiliary door 3, the latterembodying pivoted sections also and being adapted to open outwardly asshown in Fig. 6. The auxiliary door 3 is pivotally connected at 3 to thesection 2 of the door 2 and said door 3 is normally held in closedposition by means of a locking frame 41-, the upper portion of which ishinged to the section 2 of the door 2, as shown at 4, the lower edge ofsaid door 3 being held in closed position by permanent stops located onthe sill of the door opening 1 as shown clearly in Fig. 1; see also Fig.6. The lower portion of the frame 4 has mounted therein a locking bar 5,see Fig. 5, and said locking bar is adapted to engage and interlock withstaples 6 on the door 3 to hold the latter closed. The bar 5 ishorizontally slidable and moves in a casing 7 on the frame 4, saidcasing having openings 7 in its ends to permit of in troduction of asuitable tool whereby movement may be imparted to the bar 5 to engageand disengage the same with reference to the staples 6.

The mounting of the auxiliary door 3 upon the main door 2 isexceptionally advantageous by reason of the fact that the auxiliary doormay be readily opened from the outside of the car notwithstanding theexceedingly great pressure against the door from the inside and when thecar is loaded. Said auxiliary door being held in place by three or fourpermanent catches or looking members is extremely rigid when closed.

In opening the door 3 the sections thereof by reason of the hingedconnection with each other and with the main door, may be folded ordoubled and then raised sufliciently to permit the lower edge of thedoor 3 to be disengaged from the stop strips 5 located on the sill ofthe door as shown clearly in Fig. 6. The auxiliary door as abovedescribed affords a means for facilitating opening of the main door byreason of the fact that when the door 3 is opened considerable pressureon the main door is removed.

The main door 2 is held in its closed position shown in Fig. 2 by meansof vertically slidable locking rods 8 mounted in guides 8 on theopposite sides of the door opening, and which locking rods are providedwith hooks 9 adapted to engage with catches 10 arranged in recesseslocated near the vertical edges of the door 2. The rods 8 are two innumber and mounted at opposite sides of the door opening 1 of the car,said locking rods each being held in its operative position, holding thedoor closed by means of spring catches 11, see Fig. 9, which catchesengage in notches 8 near the lower ends of the rods 8. To release therods 8 from the door 2, the catches 11 are disengaged from the rods bymoving upwardly the lower ends of small cam levers 12, eyes 13 beingprovided in the lower .ends of the rods 8 so as to facilitate theengagement of a tool with said rods to move the latter upwardly.

Special means is provided for holding the door 2 in an elevated positionnear the top of thecar 1 and after it has been opened. Such meanscomprises a'pivoted carrier 14 consisting of a frame pivoted in brackets15 secured to the top of the car, the frame being normally held in anupraised or horizontal position by means of springs 16 the ends of whichengage opposite sides of the'frame as shown at '16. Co-acting also tohold the carrier 14 upraised are catches 17 which pro ject froma shaft18 mounted above the door opening 1 and which shaft has a crank arm 19extending outwardly therefrom and pivotally connected with a Verticaloperating rod'20 mounted at one side of the door opening 1. Theoperating "rod 20 is normally locked in a lowermostposition bythe catch21, similar to the catch 11, said catch 21 being adapted to bedisengaged from the rod 20 by means of a small lever 22 shown in Fig. 10and which has a cam portion 22 to engage the rod directly.

Mounted above thepivoted portion of the carrier 14 is a hollow drum 23in which is a spring 24 which normally tends to turn said drum in adirection which will cause the flexible connections 25 secured theretoto be wound upon the drum. The connections 25 are cables or ropessecured at their outer ends to the door 2 as shown at 25, saidconnections being provided intermediate their length with projections 26such as knots, or the like.

At the upper side of the door opening 1 are mounted pivoted catches27'notched at one end to receive the connections 25, see Fig. 2, andsaid catches co-act with pivoted stops 28 in a manner to be hereafterdescribed.

Describing the operation of opening the door, the pin 29, which passesthrough the casing 7 and the locking bar 5, being carried by a chain orcord 30 as shown in Fig. 1, may be pulled upwardly out of its positionand permitted to hang suspended by said chain or cord. The operator isnow able to open the door 3 regardless of the pressure caused bythe'contents of the loaded car bearing against the inside of the door.The opening of the door is accomplished by entering a suitable tool atthe opening 7 in the left end of the casing 7, and sliding the lockingbar 5 horizontally to the right thereby releasing the hooks on said bar5 from. thestaples 6 in the lower edge of the door 3, this operationsimultaneously releasing the locking frame 4 from the support of thedoor 3, and said locking frame having pre viously held the hinged jointin the door 3 in its rigid closed position. The joint in the door 3 nowbeing released from the support of the locking frame 4, the pressureagainst the inside of said door caused by the contents of the car willexert and force outwardly on the said joint causing it to double in sucha manner as to raise the lower edge of the door 3 sufiiciently to permitit. to pass over the stops on the sill of the door opening 1, whichstopshave previously held it in closed position as shown in Fig. 1, and thedoor 3 is opened, see Fig. 6. The .grain with which the car is loadednow passes out through the door 3 relieving the pressure against themain door 2 and permitting the latter to be opened and handled in themanner described below. After the above operation the catches 11 aredisengaged from the locking rods 8 and said locking rods are forcedupwardly so as to disengage the hooks 9 from the catches 10 on the door2; thereupon said door 2 is free to open. The catch 21 is now disengagedfrom the operating rod 20 and the latter is raised so as to move thecatches 17 outwardly releasing the door carrier 14 and permitting thesame to move downwardly into the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3.The door 2 is now grasped by the operator and raised upwardly againstthe stops 14 on thesides of the carrier 14 after which the carrier israised against the top of the car, as shown in full lines in Fig. 3. Theoperator can raise the carrier as above mentioned with one hand whilewith the other hand'he pulls downwardly. on the operating rod 20 toimpart movement to the shaft 18 whereby to engage the catches 17 againwith the carrier to lock the latter in its elevated position. The dooris thus locked in the elevated positionshown in Fig. 3 the sectionsthereof having of course been folded above one another in the mannerillustrated and before being raised. The lower section 2 of the door 2is provided with pivoted plates at its side edges, shown at 31, the freeends of said plates engaging the sides of the door opening-1 as shownin'Fig. 3, when the door is released, thereby forcing the door outwardlyaway from the hooks 9. As the door 2 is raised to the position shown inF i". 3 the ends thereof strike the long arms of a pair of pivoted stops32, and swing said stops upwardly until their short armsare in verticalpositionsshown in Fig. 3, thereby preventing likelihood of endwisedisplacement of the door from the carrier 14, or any movement of suchdoor that would take it out ofa proper position to swing back into thedoor opening when dropped into closed position.

The operation of closing the door is very simple, the rod 20 beingoperated by upward movement to disengage the catches 17 from the carrier14, and said rod being locked in its upper position by means of a smallcatch 33 at the top of the door opening 1', said catch 33 being adaptedto engage beneath the crank arm 19. The catches 17 are now in theiroutermost positions and in contact with the outer sides of the pivotedstops 28. The small catches 27 are now turned so that their notched endsare remote from the stops 28 and their opposite ends in contact withsaid stops as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 41. The operator now takeshold of the flexible tension connections and pulls outwardly thereonuntil the projections 26 are engaged with the outer sides of the members27. The carrier 14 being lowered the door 2 is disposed in the dooropening 1 and again locked closed by means of the locking rods 8, theauxiliary door 3 being also looked closed by means of the bar 5. Thecatch 33 may now be disengaged from beneath the crank arm 19 and bypulling downwardly on the operating rod 20 the catches 17 will be movedinwardly out of contact with the stops 28 permitting said stops to movelaterally releasing thecatches 27 which have heretofore been held rigidin their transverse positions, and the tension connections also beingreleased simultaneously so that the parts assume the position shown inFig. 2 and the operation of closing the door is completed.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. In combination, a car a door mounted thereon and movable verticallyto the top of the car, a door carrier at the top of the car, catches forholding said carrier elevated, means for operating said catches, tensionmeans connected with the door to assist in elevating the same, and meanscontrolled by the catches for rendering the tension means inoperativepreparatory to downward closing movement of the door.

2. In combination, a car, a door, a carrier for supporting the door inan upraised position, means for locking the carrier elevated, meansconnected with the door to assist in raising the same, the lastmentioned means comprising a spring drum, and devices controlled by thelocking means for the carrier for rendering the spring drum inoperative.

3. In combination, a door, a door carrier at the top of the car forsupporting the door in an elevated position, door elevating meansconnected with the door, means for locking the carrier in an elevatedposition while the door is thereon, and devices for rendering the doorelevating means inoperative preliminary to downward closing movement ofthe door.

4, In combination, a car, a door, means for elevating the door, meansfor supporting the door inan elevated position, and means for renderingthe door elevating means inoperative preliminary to downward closingmovement of the door.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALEXANDER II. GLANDON.

Witnesses:

JOHN J. ALLEN, JAMES E. Gunny.

